CNN urged President Donald Trump to spend his time on issues more important than bashing the press after a POTUS tweet over the weekend.
The Sunday tweet showed Trump’s appearance at a wrestling event where he knocked down a man. In the tweet, the man’s face was covered by a CNN logo.
#FraudNewsCNN#FNNpic.twitter.com/WYUnHjjUjg
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 2, 2017
Trump has been calling news outlets including CNN, the New York Times and Washington Post “fake news.” Last week he made personal attacks on Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, hosts of MSNBC’s Morning Joe.
Trump aims to communicate directly to constituents via Twitter, and a recent analysis showed that more of his tweets are about criticizing the media than any other subject.
Related: RTDNA to Journalists: Don't Be Intimidated by Presidential Tweet
The wrestling tweet drew a sharp reaction from CNN.
"It is a sad day when the President of the United States encourages violence against reporters,” a CNN spokesperson said. “Clearly, [White House spokesperson] Sarah Huckabee Sanders lied when she said the President had never done so. Instead of preparing for his overseas trip, his first meeting with Vladimir Putin, dealing with North Korea and working on his health care bill, he is involved in juvenile behavior far below the dignity of his office. We will keep doing our jobs. He should start doing his."
The tweet has been retweeted 294,000 times.
Later Sunday night, Trump tweeted:
The dishonest media will NEVER keep us from accomplishing our objectives on behalf of our GREAT AMERICAN PEOPLE! #AmericaFirstpic.twitter.com/jSciqzAs6G
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 2, 2017
(Photo via Josh Hallett's Flickr. Image taken on June 27, 2017 and used per Creative Commons 2.0 license. The photo was cropped to fit 9x16 aspect ratio.)
